Prison Industrial Complex Photographic exhibition at Frist
Apr 16, 2018TWO TO A SIX-BY-EIGHT-FOOT CELL AT ANGOLA PRISON, 1980. Archival pigment print. Courtesy of the artist. © Keith CalhounSlavery, the Prison Industrial Complex: Photographs by Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick is an extraordinary exhibition now on display at the Frist Art Museum — yes, the name is changing from Frist Center for the Visual Arts to the Frist Art Museum this spring, so get used to it. New Orleans natives Keith Calhoun and Chandra McCormick have been documenting African American life in Louisiana for almost 40 years.Since 1980, they have made regular visits to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola to photograph life on the prison farm, which was founded on the consolidated land of several cotton and sugarcane plantations. Their poignant black-and-white images record the exploitation of the men incarcerated within the maximum-security prison farm while also showcasing the prisoners’ humanity and individual narratives. Calhoun and McCormick use their cameras as tools for social engagement, reminding their audiences of persistent racial inequities, especially throughout the American criminal justice system.The prison was once a plantation and is known as Angola, the country of origin for many of the slaves. Incidentally, Nashvillian Adelicia Acklen inherited the property from her first husband in 1845 and owned it until 1880. At 18,000 acres, the complex is bigger than the island of Manhattan and operates as the largest maximum-security prison in the United States.It is also called “The Farm” because it continues to grow cash crops—as much as four million pounds a year—using inmate labor. The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits involuntary servitude, does not apply to convicted inmates. In the minds of Calhoun and McCormick, slavery never really ended at Angola.Angola currently houses more than six thousand male inmates; around 75 percent are African American. When one looks at contemporary photographs of black bodies in the fields, one may wonder if they are descendants of those who wor... (pridepublishinggroup.com)
